How we cite our quotes: Line
Quote #4
I'll tell you, then. But these are holy secrets. This morning Socrates asked Chaerephon / how many of its own feet a flea can jump / A flea had bitten Chaerephon on the eyebrow / and then jumped off and landed on Socrates' head. (143-146)
When Strepsiades arrives at the Thinkery, he gets a pupil to kind of show him around and give him the lay of the land. As you can see, Aristophanes's portrayal of the Thinkery's intellectual pursuits isn't exactly flattering—he clearly is trying to play up the school's teachings and "research" as dumb.
Quote #5
Our Chaerephon was asking his opinion / on whether gnats produce their humming sound / by blowing through the mouth or through the rump. (156-158)
Here's yet another example of the kind of silly questions that Socrates and his associate, Chaerephon, are portrayed as being interested in at the Thinkery. Hardly seems like great thoughts are happening. However, the pupil relays all this information with apparent reverence for his school/masters.
Quote #6
He said the gnat has a very narrow gut, / and, since the gut's so tiny, the air comes through / quite violently on its way to the little rump; / then, being an orifice attached to a narrow tube, / the asshole makes a blast from the force of air. (160-164)
The pupil continues to extol the "deep thoughts" that the Thinkery pursues, and here things get a bit more anatomy-oriented. There's quite a lot of butt and genital talk in the play, and this is just an early example—and one that highlights once again just how un-lofty the school's lessons can be.